Dietrich von Lohengrin
Dietrich von Lohengrin, also known as "Puppetmaster", was a human member of the Order of Rosenkreutz who was a major antagonist in the Trinity Blood light novels and manga, and the secondary antagonist of the anime adaptation. Personality Dietrich was an exceptionally cruel, manipulative and sadistic individual, who was able to find out the tiniest details about a person's past and use it to sow seeds of mistrust or manipulate them. He found the pain of others amusing, and delighted in psychological torment. He also developed quite an obsession with his best friend Esther Blanchett, but after betraying her, he expressed his feelings by tormenting her and being cruel to her even by his own standards. He was also exceptionally intelligent, mastering computer technology, sorcery and the reanimation of corpses with ease, enabling him to manipulate the weaponry of both sides, possess bodies and bend people to his will. History Anime Dietrich was first seen in the third episode of the anime as the best friend of the nun Sister Esther Blanchett, with the pair having known each other since he was growing up in the catholic orphanage in Istvan, Hungary. According to Dietrich, he was there because Count Gyula Kadar (the vampire who ran the city) had murdered his parents for speaking out against him (though in the original light novels and manga, Dietrich had murdered his entire family, it is not certain if this is still true in the anime canon). Dietrich was hired as a computer programmer by Kadar to reactivate his “Star of Sorrow” satellite power-source, to convert it into weapon, to wipe out the Vatican and all of their allies in revenge against them for inciting the populous to kill his wife. After Kadar had the city’s bishop Laura assassinated (due to her refusal to adhere to his instructions), Dietrich manipulated Esther into murdering the assassin, and the pair were discussing killing Kadar (with Esther refusing to let Dietrich have blood on his hands too), when they were confronted by Father Abel Nightroad, who tried to convince them out of it, but Dietrich refused to listen, and opened the door of the cathedral as though to leave in anger, only to be shot several times and apparently killed by Kadar’s men, who then arrested Esther for murdering Kadar’s lieutenant. Kadar’s men then burned the cathedral to the ground. Later, Kadar was using his super weapon to destroy Albion (the United Kingdom), when his weapon suddenly started firing at his own city of Istvan, as well as multiple Methuselah Empire cities. Confused and horrified, Kadar started to panic, only for Dietrich to reveal himself as still alive, appearing through hologram form to tell Kadar that he had set a sub-routine into the satellite’s software, announcing that he planned to “set the whole world on fire” using the satellite. He then called Kadar and Esther his “revenge drawn puppets”, and said that they were so easily manipulated that it was pathetic, before taunting Esther about his fake death and how she believed it was all her fault, and announcing that he was a member of the Order of Rosenkreutz, and that they planned to create a “New World Order”. Kadar realized that Dietrich was tricking both sides into thinking that the other was attacking, in order to start another global war. Dietrich then told Esther that he loved her because of the “cute” way that she was able to justify her crimes, before further taunting her about being a “cold blooded murderer”. He then told Esther the abort code for the satellite, that would destroy the star, before disappearing. Kadar refused to let Esther destroy the star and tried to kill Esther, only for Abel Nightroad to reveal himself as a Cruznik (a being more powerful than a vampire, which feeds on vampires), and cut off Kadar’s arm, before stopping Esther from inputting the (fake) code Dietrich had given her, and input the real code, which he used his security clearance to access. He then used this code to destroy the satellite, thwarting Dietrich’s plan. Kadar then committed suicide. Dietrich disappeared then for several months, before reappearing in Carthage, Greece, in episode 13 after tasking a junior member of the Order of Rosenkreutz called Radu to bomb Cardinal Caterina Sporza’s hotel at the same time that Radu’s childhood friend and foster brother Ion arrived in the hotel, to make it seem that Ion (a messenger for the Methuselah (Vampire) Empire was acting on the Augusta’s orders to start a war against humanity. Radu failed and was staked multiple times by the Inquisitorial department, before falling into the waters of the cave system below Radu and Ion’s hotel. However, Radu was later revealed to have survived, and awoke in an old church building alongside Dietrich, now using the alias “Puppetmaster”, who told him to keep a better look at his surroundings, because he never knows who might come in. Dietrich then supplied Radu with a CD that allowed him to control the Vatican’s airships, but then he began to brutally torture Radu from a distance using sorcery. Radu (a uniquely pyrokinetic vampire) retaliated by throwing flames at Dietrich, who teleported away, before re-starting his magical torture and reprimanding Radu for not activating the Ibelis when he failed his mission, and then he stamped on Radu’s head. Radu convinced Dietrich to relent by explaining that using the Ibelis would have made it look like Cardinal Sporza and Ion were killed by the same assailant, but it had to look like a human killed Ion and a vampire killed Cardinal Sporza. Dietrich still considered Radu a failure, because their meeting was still able to take place. Dietrich then revealed to Radu that he had created an army of reanimated vampire corpses (i.e. those of already destroyed vampires, now complete slaves to Dietrich’s will), which he called “Death Hunters”, which he then used to attack Cardinal Sporza and company. When Dietrich’s Deah Hunters were all killed, he sent Radu to stop Abel Nightroad, Brother Pietrov, Esther Blanchett and Ion from reaching Cardinal Sporza. Ion mercilessly attacked the group with a hijacked Goliath Electro-tank. After apparently killing Ion, Radu gave a twisted smile, before Abel Nightroad suddenly started drinking Ion’s blood, revealed his true Cruznik form, destroyed Dietrich’s hijacked airships and Radu’s tank, and used his demonic staff to electrocute Radu to death. Dietrich found Radu’s body and reanimated it, before taking it over with his own consciousness, and using the body to murder Ion’s grandmother the Duchess of Moldova (the head of the Methuselah Empire’s Secret Service), and sent a group of Death Hunters who kill all of the staff on her estate. All of the Death Hunters were rigged with explosives, and when Ion, Abel and Esther returned to the estate, they blew it up. When Ion (who had been blamed for Dietrich’s crimes) sought to clear his name, he went to his grandmother’s former servant Minmar, who he realized was the only person who could reveal the true perpetrator to the law. When Ion and Esther arrive at Minmar’s apothecary, one of Dietrich’s Death Hunters was there, and mid-way through killing Minmar. Ion and Esther were able to incapacitate the Death Hunter, before Minmar revealed that Radu was the one who had hired him for information on the estate and to let the Death Hunters in. Later, when Ion was buying food for an injured Esther, Dietrich (in Radu’s body) confronted Ion, mocked him about his believing them to have been friends, and announced to Ion his plans to assassinate the Empress. Ion, still believing this to be Radu speaking, was shocked at everything his best friend was planning, even more so when “Radu” announced that he planned to wipe “terrans” (regular humans) off the face of the earth, so that Methuselah (vampires) would reign supreme. He then cut Ion’s chest, and sewed seeds of distrust in Ion by heavily implying that Esther betrayed him, and mentioned to him that Esther’s adopted mother was killed by a vampire. Ion was horrified that Esther hadn’t mentioned this to him, and “Radu” told him that the only reason she wouldn’t tell him that was that she wanted to wipe out all vampires, including Ion. Days later, while looking for Ion (who had gone after Radu on his own), Esther was stopped by Seth Nightroad, who had the two hide behind a bush and watch inside Ion’s family crypt, where they saw Dietrich (still using Radu’s body) meeting up with fellow Order of Rozenkreutz conspirator and Imperial agent Suleyman, and discover that the two have layed explosives in the cript, ready to detonate and kill the empress during Ion’s grandmother’s funeral. Suleyman and Dietrich discussed how coexistence was an illusion and had to be stopped. Seth then revealed herself to be a vampire, and began throwing knives at Suleyman, who blocked or caught the knives and started blasting at her using a ring that produced a disintegration beam. Eventually, Suleyman cornered Steh on a cliff overhang, and used the ring to cut the overhand off of the cliff section, sending Seth off the cliff along with several tonnes of rock. Dietrich and Suleyman were then free to continue their plot to wipe out the empress and instigate a vampire-ruled society. When Ion saw “Radu” at his grandmother’s funeral procession, he tried to kill him, only to be mocked by Dietrich, who told him that he (Ion) would only be remembered as the “pathetic filth who tried to kill the emperor, and I (Dietrich/Radu) as the hero who stopped you.” Dietrich then started laughing hysterically at the concept of being viewed hero by anyone, and in his distraction, Radu’s consciousness was able to regain control of his dead body and warn Ion to get out of the way and let him know that the Order of Reozenkreutz were the ones trying to kill the empress. Dietrich quickly re-took control of Radu’s body, and smiled as he was about to kill Ion. Esther ran and attempted to stop Dietrich from doing so, but she was punched in the stomach and blocked by Suleyman. Neither Suleyman nor Dietrich were able to kill their intended victims because the empress publicly asked them to arrest the pair as they had important information for her. When Dietrich and Suleyman’s explosives destroyed the mausoleum, it was assumed that they had succeeded in killing the empress. Dietrich then visited Esther and Ion in their cell at Suleyman’s request, meanwhile sending Death Hunters to kill the Dutchess of Kiev (Asta Asran) and Abel Nightroad. At Ion and Esther’s cell, “Radu” proclaimed that the empress’s ideals of a world with peaceful coexistence between humans and vampires were ludicrous, then revealed that he wasn’t actually Radu. Esther pointed out that she’d already worked that out by the fact that he, a nobleman, would never refer to his own kind as “vampires”, but as Methuselah. He then said. “Very astute. That’s what I’ve always loved about you, Esther.” His remark about loving Esther caused her to immediately realize that he was actually Dietrich, and that he’d been possessing Radu’s corpse for months now, forcing him to do everything he wanted. Infuriated by what Dietrich had done to his best friend, Ion swore to “rip him to pieces with his bare hands!” In retaliation, Dietrich shot Ion in the stomach, causing him to lose a lot of blood. He did this for the sole purpose of causing “the thirst” in Ion, using a bullet that was “specifically designed to transform him into a ravenous beast.” He then threw Esther a silver sword, and told her that “You can either die by your hand or the monster’s. It is your choice.” To which Esther told him “THE ONLY MONSTER HERE IS YOU!” Dietrich then left, expressing regret that his schedule prevented him from watching how the pair kill each other, and Ion kept begging Esther to kill him, so he wouldn’t kill her in a horrific manner, but Esther was unable to do it no matter how much Ion pleaded. In the end, Esther, knowing that Ion had no control, freely offered a devastated Ion all of her blood, and Ion was about to bite her, before declaring that he wouldn’t, and stabbing himself in the leg, and thanking Esther for her kindness. Just before Ion could kill himself, the pair were rescued by Abel Nightroad. Asta, Esther, Ion, and Abel then confronted Suleyman, and the Empress appeared, revealing herself to be alive, and also to be Ion’s “dead” grandmother, who was a stand-in for the empress to reveal the traitors. The REAL empress then revealed her true face to Suleyman: Seth Nightroad. Suleyman then killed himself with his weaponized ring. Dietrich was then confronted by Abel, who stopped him from re-activating an ancient super weapon, but was met by force from Dietrich, who shot fire at Abel out of his hands. Abel attempted to strengthen himself by assuming 80% Crusnik form, but the lack of vampire blood in his system caused Abel to have a mini heart attack, convulse, and collapse. Dietrich was about to kill Abel by setting fire to his head, when Seth appeared to rescue her brother, and used her own unique sonic resonance powers to turn Dietrich to dust (although it was technically only Radu’s body which she destroyed, so Dietrich survived the encounter). Months later, when a vampire rebellion took hold in the underground City of the Methuselah, Dietrich reappeared and used hidden fibrous weapons to ensnare Esther (who was searching for the pope (who had become lost in all of the chaos). Dietrich laughed at Esther’s struggles and told her that he planned to instigate the apocalypse, before hinting to Esther that she was the true air of the Albion throne. Dietrich then left Esther to die in his trap. Three of Dietrich’s Death Hunters then appeared in the city and attacked the children Peter and Wendy, meanwhile he sent an ax-wielding Death Hunter to ill the still trapped Esther. However, Abel rescued Esther, and Father Leon protected the children by killing the Death Hunters, and he continued to do so while more and more Death Hunters kept appearing. Professor Wordsworth (who arrived in the city alongside Abel, Pietro, and Leon) was also revealed to have killed several Death Hunters who got in his way to finding the Pope. Dietrich’s Death Hunters then began slaughtering everyone in order to reach the rocket in the center of the city. While this occurred, his superior, Cain Knightlord, the leader of the Order of Rozenkreutz, appeared above ground, and used his earthquake-generating Cruznik ability to kill all of the guards to Buckingham Palace (which was directly above the Methuselah City entrance). Soon after Dietrich activated the missile, he was attacked by Abel in Cruznik form to prevent him from using the weapon. Dietrich defended himself against Abel by throwing invisible fibers out of his hands, which surrounded Abel and tightly bound him, squeezing and carving into him. However, Abel was able to increase his Cruznik form, throw away Dietrich’s magical fibers, and use his staff to electrocute Dietrich, throwing him (Dietrich) across the room as he did so. Cain Nightlord then appeared in the room and, irritated by Dietrich’s consistent failures, murdered Dietrich by using his power to blast a hole in Dietrich’s chest. Dietrich’s last words were “Master, why?”, before he collapsed to the floor and died. 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